Strategic Pursuits Lead - Water

BKF•Newport Beach, CA

21h•$94,000 - $140,000•Hybrid

About The Position

BKF is seeking a Strategic Pursuits Lead to join our team. The ideal candidate has a deep understanding of engineering, planning, design, environmental, and construction management services related to water infrastructure and resilience and a proven track record leading and winning strategic pursuits as a prime consultant. This role is critical to strengthening BKF’s reputation as a trusted leader in water resilience and sustainability, helping expand our presence in the water market as a preferred partner for innovative, multi-benefit water solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, Communications, or a related field.
Minimum of 5 years in a Senior Marketing Coordinator/Specialist or Business Development role positioning for, leading, and successfully winning highly competitive prime proposals for water resources projects.
Strong understanding of project types specific to the assigned market or sector, with the ability to accurately interpret scopes of work and align opportunities with BKF’s expertise and qualifications.
Demonstrated commitment to water sustainability, environmental stewardship, climate resilience, and community impact, with a strong desire to continue learning and growing in these areas.
Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
Proven ability to work collaboratively in a team environment and manage multiple priorities.
Highly proficient in proposal management software, InDesign, and other relevant software.
Demonstrated success in leading and winning proposals in the Water Market Sector.
Strong understanding of Standard Form 330 Submittals, Non-Standard submittals, disadvantage/local business compliance forms and outreach procedures, and federal forms.
Strong understanding of the infrastructure market including water stormwater, and wastewater projects.

Responsibilities

Maintain knowledge of BKF’s experience, resume, and service offerings along with competitors, teaming partners and clients within the water market.
Lead the development and execution of strategic pursuit plans for major market projects independently and other proposals and interviews, as assigned.
Identify and analyze market trends, client needs, and competitive landscape to inform pursuit strategies.
Understand and develop relationships with key teaming partners.
Collaborate with internal teams, including business development, project management, and technical experts, to develop compelling and competitive proposals.
Maintain accurate data for pursuits, as assigned from “go” to award/loss in Vantagepoint.
Maintain a database of competitor proposals and best-practice examples to continually advance and enhance BKF’s pursuit strategies, enabling the firm to outperform competitors and strengthen its position in the industry.
Cultivate a practice of continual improvement by learning from feedback gathered from proposal debriefs and comments during QA/QC reviews, and other available sources.
Mentor and train junior staff in pursuit and proposal best practices.
Periodic travel between offices and other locations may be required.
Understand and implement BKF’s Pursuit to Win process and program.
Foster and maintain relationships with key clients, industry partners, and stakeholders.
Conduct go/no-go assessments and provide recommendations to senior leadership.
Review and vet RFP/Qs, identifying key requirements, win themes, risks, and compliance needs.
Understand various submittal requirements, such as Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) outreach and participation requirements.
Independently manage the proposal process from inception to submission, ensuring high-quality, compliant deliverables.
Conduct proposal kick-off meetings and coordinate internal pursuit teams.
Develop and present pursuit strategies and proposal content to internal and external audiences.
Lead and develop interview strategy, including selecting participants, producing presentations, talking points, and interview preparation.
Lead QA/QC reviews for proposals and interview materials.
Experience with both non-standard and SF330 proposal formats.
Tailor team resumes, project descriptions, and other qualifications materials.
Occasional flexible working hours may be required.
Maintain library of project experience, photos, resumes and materials aligned with the Water Market Sector.
Identify high impact project experience and photos to be added to the website.
Coordinate the acquisition or development of project photos, visualizations, renderings, and other graphics collateral in support of strategic pursuits.